Ben's Hill Trail hike on 18-Sep-2025

We all met up individually at the Elbow Falls parking lot, which was partially taken over by a film crew. After walking east next to HWY 66 for about 100 m, we turned onto a trail in the first drainage east of Prairie Mountain. As the original plan was to do the trip counter-clockwise, up Loamzilla and down Pistolero, this trail turned out to be the wrong one, even though it was pleasant and well defined all the way. We enjoyed hiking in dappled sunlight.

Original route plan: counter-clockwise up Loamzilla, down Pistolero
Original route plan: counter-clockwise up Loamzilla, down Pistolero

The trail got steeper near the top, where a short off-trail jaunt to the west leads to an alternate route up Prairie Mtn from the east. After the short, steep section, we continued eastward to the summit, discovering signage en route pointing out that our chosen trail was not an authorized one.

Nearing the top; left to right Bob, Brian, Sophie, David, Leslie.
Nearing the top; left to right Bob, Brian, Sophie, David, Leslie.

The “summit” is adorned by a large rock circle.

Summit circle, looking south. Photo courtesy Simon.
Summit circle, looking south. Photo courtesy Simon.

Summit Cairn; left to right David, Simon, Bob
Summit Cairn; left to right David, Simon, Bob

Prairie Mountain from Ben's Hill; left to right Leslie, Simon, Sophie, David.
Prairie Mountain from Ben's Hill; left to right Leslie, Simon, Sophie, David.

After a short rest we continued on, clockwise, to a 3-way junction and turned south to head down the Loamzilla mountain bike trail, encountering a rather steep cliff section that required care to negotiate.

The cliffband, left to right Brian, Bob, Sophie, Leslie, David. Photo courtesy of Simon.
The cliffband, left to right Brian, Bob, Sophie, Leslie, David. Photo courtesy of Simon.

From there, it was an easy return back to Elbow Valley trail, where I recognized my mistake in heading up too soon at the start. To complete the loop clockwise requires starting hiking Elbow Trail eastward past a second drainage and turning north at the Loamzilla sign.

The Coordinator very much appreciated everyone’s patience as we sorted out the route modification and my multiple rest-stops. Was very grateful to have shared the half-day outing with Participants: David, Leslie and Sophie, Bob, Simon.

Trip Coordinator, Brian

Actual clockwise loop
Actual clockwise loop

8 km, 452 vertical meters, 3.5 hours

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